Portable electronic equipment such as projectors are prone to theft. Replacing stolen equipment can be expensive and distracting. Electronic equipment theft is particularly problematic for organizations that must expose their equipment to the public. For example, schools and conference centres have meeting rooms that are equipped with presentation equipment, such as computers, and video I data projectors. Projectors can be portable units placed on top of a table and removed after each use. Projectors that are placed on tables can be removed from the room after each use; however, transporting and setting up the projector in the room each time it is to be used tends to be time consuming and is undesirable when the room is frequently used for presentations. Since such projectors are not secured, care must be taken to guard the projector to ensure it is not stolen. Or, projectors can be mounted in a substantially permanent location, such as from a threaded drop pipe extending downwards from the room's ceiling.
Ceiling mounted projectors are desirable as they free up desk space, and are mounted out of the way of people in the room. Projector manufacturers typically provide optional ceiling mounting plates for their projectors; the mounting plates typically include a threaded portion that mates with the threaded portion of the drop pipe, and fasteners for securing the mounting plate to screw holes in the data projector itself. Optionally, an adjustment bracket can be coupled between the mounting plate and the drop pipe, to enable the projector to be tilted so that the projected image is centred on a screen.
Such ceiling mounting hardware is not particularly secure—a thief can simply remove the fasteners that attach the adjustment bracket to the mounting plate, or remove the fasteners in the adjustment bracket itself, or remove the fasteners which attach the mounting plate to the projector. Various prior art solutions have been proposed to prevent removal of the mounting plate/adjustment bracket from the projector or drop pipe. For example, Chief Manufacturing Inc. advertises for sale a projector security device under the brand name “PG-1 Projector Guard”—this device is a cage that encloses a projector and its ceiling mounting hardware. Disadvantageously, the cage is not adjustable in size to accommodate projectors of different sizes; use of the cage to enclose smaller projectors tend to be aesthetically unpleasing. More problematic is that the device is simply an enclosure that uses the projector's existing mounting hardware. Furthermore, the cage must be completely removed from the projector to allow access to the projector for regular maintenance, which is time consuming.
Peerless Industries, Inc. is another company that advertises for sale a projector security device, under the brand name Armor Lock Box; unlike the Chief device, the Peerless security device is a combined enclosure and mount, for enclosing a projector and mounting it to a ceiling drop pipe. However, like the Chief device, the Peerless device includes a cage that is not adjustable to accommodate projectors of different sizes. This security device is also problematic as It must be completely removed to allow access to the projector for regular maintenance.